Grip tape is old and well-known throughout the art. Grip tape typically includes a substantially flat continuous flexible sheet of material covered by or coated with an abrasive material. Such grip tapes are typically adhered to surfaces such as skateboards, scooters, boats, stairs, decks, mopeds, or the like for the purpose of improving the user's ability to grip them.
Unfortunately, such grip tapes are difficult to remove intact and often experience problems when exposed to moisture such as rain or the like. What often happens is that in wet conditions, such grip tapes become slippery. Thus, the user's ability to grip the surface (e.g. skateboard) is actually inhibited instead of improved when such grip tapes become wet. With respect to removal of such grip tapes, such tapes are difficult to work with and sometimes nearly impossible to remove from the adhered to surface intact (i.e. in one piece). Accordingly, it is clear that there exists a need in the art for a grip tape which is improved with respect to performance in wet conditions and being able to be removed easily and intact.
The use of grip tape or the like on skateboards or other wheeled vehicles such as scooters is old and well-known throughout the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,145,065; 4,460,187; and 3,309,104, just to name a few. The grip tape of the aforesaid '187 patent is termed a "non-skid agent" which appears as a continuous sheet on the upper surface of a roller ski. The grip tape of the '065 patent is termed a "non-skid" portion preferably comprising a non-skid sand paint. The '065 patent also discloses that under some circumstances it may be desirable to use paste-on non-skid strips rather than non-skid paint. Further, the '104 patent discloses its grip tape as including a foot engaging pad formed with an upper anti-slip surface of any design configuration to be disposed on the roller scooter.
The substantially continuous grip tapes of the above-referenced patents are non-see-through and all suffer from the same problems as the aforesaid grip tape in that removal is difficult and their performance in wet conditions is less than desirable.
In view of the above, it is apparent that there exists a need in the art for a grip tape for placement on a surface such as a skateboard which is easily removable intact and results in improved gripping characteristics both in dry and wet conditions. It would also be desirous if such a grip tape is see-through so that instructions, advertisements, and the like located below the grip tape on the adhered to surface are visible.
It is a purpose of this invention to fulfill the above-described needs, as well as other needs apparent to the skilled artisan from the following detailed description of this invention.